Blanca Acevedo (7 of Clubs, Arizona)

Summary

The Deck: Blanca Acevedo (7 of Clubs, Arizona) – Episode Summary

Release Date: July 2, 2025

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Introduction to the Case

In this gripping episode of The Deck, host Ashley Flowers delves into the haunting 2010 murder of Blanca Acevedo, a 50-year-old real estate agent from Phoenix, Arizona. Blanca's case is emblematic of how a seemingly ordinary life can unravel into a brutal mystery, leaving communities and families desperate for answers years later.

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Discovery of Blanca Acevedo

On the afternoon of June 27, 2010, a distressing sequence of events unfolded at the New Way Realty office in Phoenix. Robert Williams, a concerned individual, noticed smoke emanating from a nearby building and swiftly drove toward the source, fearing for his sister's workplace.

• [04:21] Detective Kenneth Porter:
  "Inside of the building, they could see what looked like a person laying on the floor, unresponsive."

Upon the arrival of firefighters, they discovered Blanca, fully clothed except for her shoes, deceased amidst the flames and chaos.

• [05:04] Detective Kenneth Porter:
  "We could not have self-inflicted injuries. Blanca was brutally attacked."

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Initial Investigation

The initial investigation raised alarms due to the nature of Blanca’s death. Contrary to initial beliefs of accidental death by fire, autopsy results revealed a far more sinister reality.

• [25:44] Detective Kenneth Porter:
  "Blanca sustained approximately 25 separate blunt force trauma wounds to her head."

This revelation transformed the case from a tragic accident to a potential homicide, prompting deeper investigative efforts.

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Key Suspects and Interviews

1. Jack – Blanca’s Employer

Jack, the owner of New Way Realty, emerges as a central figure in the investigation. His interactions and the timeline he provided raised suspicions.

• [11:29] Jose Acevedo:
  "When he was spoken to, did he have an alibi from the time that he last saw Blanca to the time that he arrived back at the scene?"

• [24:01] Detective Kenneth Porter:
  "No, no they didn't. They interviewed family and coworkers, but they didn't follow up and do another interview with Felipe."

Additionally, a troubling exchange between Jack and Paula Campos, a long-time church friend of Blanca, hinted at possible foul play.

• [40:22] Detective Mark Nunley:
  "She noticed scratch marks on Jack’s arm. He claimed they were from a cat, but Paula recalled them as fresh, nail-like scratches."

Despite these red flags, Jack was never definitively implicated before his death in 2016.

2. Felipe – Blanca’s Boyfriend

Felipe, Blanca's boyfriend, provided insights into their four-year relationship but had inconsistencies in his alibi.

• [37:04] Brit Prawat: (Advertisement Segment)
  (Skipped as per content guidelines.)

• [40:25] Detective Kenneth Porter:
  "In 2009, she made a police report about threatening phone calls from Michelle. The information wasn’t sufficient to follow up."

Later investigations revealed that Felipe’s ex-wife, Michelle, had previously threatened Blanca, adding another layer of complexity.

• [41:02] Detective Kenneth Porter:
  "No, no, they didn't. At least nothing that's been documented. But no."

3. Michelle – Felipe’s Ex-Wife

Michelle became a person of interest due to her threats against Blanca and a failed polygraph test.

• [40:55] Jose Acevedo:
  "When investigators find that report from 2009, like, do they go and speak to this woman?"

• [44:01] Detective Kenneth Porter:
  "She failed the polygraph when questioned about her involvement in the crime."

Despite these developments, Michelle has not been arrested or charged, leaving the investigation open and unresolved.

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Unidentified Individuals and Witnesses

Several mysterious elements and unidentified individuals surfaced during the investigation:

• Dina: A woman who informed Elia Solis about Blanca being inside the burning building but later became elusive and uncooperative with the media.

• Unfamiliar Man: Described by Dina and a New Way agent as a tattooed man recently released from prison, seen around the office premises, but never identified or located.

• Brenda and Casey: Fellow realtors who recounted strange conversations suggesting possible coercion or conspiracy involving Jack to set the fire.

These accounts introduced numerous unanswered questions, particularly regarding motives and potential accomplices.

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New Evidence and Breakthroughs

A significant development occurred four days post-murder when Blanca's son, Alejandro, discovered a two-page letter on her bedside table. The letter passionately criticized Jack, suggesting a deep-seated personal conflict.

• [27:16] Voice Actor (Reading the Letter):
  (Excerpt)
  "How can you do that to me, Jack? To someone who really cares about you, your business, etc."

Despite its emotional intensity, the letter was never thoroughly analyzed or verified through handwriting analysis, leaving its authenticity and implications in question.

Moreover, advancements in technology and renewed interest in cold cases led to the 2016 reassignment of Blanca's case, reigniting hope for closure.

• [37:04] Brit Prawat: (Advertisement Segment)
  (Skipped as per content guidelines.)

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Ongoing Investigation and Conclusion

As the years passed, detective teams continued to piece together Blanca's final hours. Critical gaps remained, particularly regarding Jack's last interactions and Felipe's alibi. Detective Kenneth Porter emphasized the need for community assistance:

• [48:37] Ashley Flowers:
  "Detective Nunley told us that anyone who has first, second, or even third-hand information or tips should reach out if you're scared of retaliation."

Blanca's family continues to seek justice, grappling with the unresolved brutality of her murder. The lack of concrete evidence and unresolved leads keep the case cold, but renewed investigative efforts and community engagement offer a glimmer of hope.

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Call to Action

For those with information on Blanca Acevedo's murder or anyone who may have overlooked details years ago, now is the time to come forward. Detective Kenneth Porter urges:

• [48:37] Detective Kenneth Porter:
  "If you have information, come forward and help us bring justice to her and her family."

Tips can be submitted anonymously via 480WITNESS, ensuring safety and privacy for all contributors.

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Conclusion

Blanca Acevedo's tragic death remains a poignant reminder of the lingering pain of unsolved crimes. The Deck emphasizes the critical role of community involvement in bringing closure to families and achieving justice. As investigations continue, Blanca's story serves as a compelling call to action for all listeners to remain vigilant and supportive in the pursuit of truth.

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For more information on The Deck and to support ongoing investigations, visit thedeckpodcast.com.

Transcript

[Ashley Flowers]

Hi everyone, I'm Ashley Flowers, creator and.

[Brit Prawat]

Host of Crime Junkie, the Go to.

[Ashley Flowers]

Crime podcast for the biggest cases and the stories you won't hear anywhere else. So whether on your commute, studying or while you work, let us keep you.

[Brit Prawat]

Company with new episodes every Monday. It is truly a crime Junkie's dream. So join me, my best friend Brit and our entire Crime Junkie community right now by catching up on hundreds of episodes and by listening to a new case every Monday on Crime Junkie, available wherever you listen to podcasts. What if you could turn your curiosity for true crime into a degree at Southern New Hampshire University? You can Southern New Hampshire University offers over 200 degrees you can earn completely online, including subjects like forensic psychology, criminology and crime analysis. And with low online tuition, Southern New Hampshire University makes earning your degree of affordable, flexible and achievable. Find your degree at Snhu. Edu Dec. That's Snhu.

[Ashley Flowers]

Edu Dec.

[Detective Mark Nunley]

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[Ashley Flowers]

Life is full of plot twists, but like any good mystery, having the right people to help makes a difference. Think of a State Farm agent like your sidekick, there to help you in your search for coverage. And with so many options, it's nice knowing you have help finding what fits for you. Go [e-mail] or use the award winning app to get help from one of their local agents. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Our card this week is Blanca Acevedo, the seven of clubs from Arizona. In June 2010, 50 year old Blanca was navigating a life of quiet chaos with when she was found murdered in a building set aflame. The brutal case of Overkill quickly went cold for the detectives on the case. But could a letter found on Blanca's bedside table have held the key to finding her killer all along? It is one of the several clues that new investigators are chasing down to solve this 15 year old murder. I'm Ashley Flowers and this is the deck it on the afternoon of June 27, 2010, a man named Robert Williams was leaving a meeting at a church in Phoenix, Arizona when he looked up and saw smoke rising from a nearby area. Extra concerning was the fact that where the smoke was coming from was right near where his sister worked. So Robert jumped in his Buick and drove straight toward the billowing black smoke. But when he pulled up to 3421 West Orangewood Avenue, he was relieved to see that his sister's office looked just fine. It was actually the nearby New Way Realty office that was on fire. As Robert got close to the building, he saw a man beating and knocking on the window. In desperation, he was yelling for anyone inside the office. But Robert knew that they needed help, so he called the fire department. When firefighters arrived shortly before 5pm they discovered more than just smoke and flames. In fact, when the first firefighter entered Newway, he tripped and stumbled on something, or rather someone just a few feet.

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

Inside of the building. They could see what looked like a person laying on, on the floor, unresponsive. She was removed from the structure. She was covered with a blanket right there in the front of the of the business. She's pulled outside through the front main door out into sort of a grassy area or actually right out front. I don't know if it was the grass area or not, but she was pulled right out front.

[Ashley Flowers]

That's Detective Mark Nunley of the Phoenix Police Department. He said that once the fully clothed woman was removed from the burning building, first responders quickly determined that she was dead.

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

It would be standard to investigate a death in a fire anyway. That is one of the types of deaths that we would investigate as homicide unit. But the trauma to her head was also concerning. I don't know if they realized it right away that this was an arson, like an intentional fire. When police arrived, they did start notifying detectives that this looks like there's some foul play.

[Ashley Flowers]

This wasn't just a fire in an office building. This woman had been violently attacked and shot in the head before being left in a burning building surrounded by traces of gasoline and a discarded matchbook. The the woman had a towel draped over her middle section, which authorities discovered still on her after she'd been removed from the burning building. But they didn't have any idea what the purpose of it was. That would be up to the detectives to decide. The department dispatched Detective Kenneth Porter to the scene along with a team of officers who started talking to witnesses and managing the pile up of traffic that was being redirected away from the smoking office building. Their team talked to Two men who had showed up first, but they didn't learn much from them. And there was also no surveillance footage to go off of. Neither Newway nor any of the surrounding businesses had cameras facing the front of the building that investigators could comb through amongst the chaos. Officers outside the Newway office began looking around the parking lot, wondering if an unaccounted for car might offer some clues to the woman's identity. And soon they spotted a gold Toyota sedan that, per the plates they ran, belonged to a 50 year old newe real estate agent named Blanca Acevedo. As word of the fire spread, some of the new way realtors began showing up. Probably the quickest to arrive was Elia Solis. She and her husband Jose lived close by, but it wasn't actually the billowing smoke that drew her to the scene. She told officers that she'd received a call from a woman who we're going to call Dina, whose father owned the realty office.

[Elia Solis]

The fire truck went by, and then Jose says, of course, you know, kidding me. He said, oh, no, the office is on fire. And as soon as he finished saying that, we saw the fire truck go by, then called. She said, go over to the office. It's on fire. And I'm like, what do you mean the office is on fire? So of course, you know, we drop everything and we head down and everything was blocked off already. I called back and I tell her somebody was in the office, you know, and so she said, it's Blanca. And I'm like, how do you know that it's her?

[Ashley Flowers]

Elia never got a clear answer to her question. How did Dina know that it was Blanca trapped in the burning building? But Dina herself gave an explanation to police when she showed up to the scene later that day. Police talked to her for more than an hour. And during that conversation, she said that she'd gotten a call from a neighbor alerting her to the fire. And she said it was that same neighbor who said that Blanca was in the building. Now, we tried on multiple occasions to interview Deena ourselves. I mean, we even flew one of our reporters out to Phoenix to meet with her. But at the very last second, after a time and date was set for the interview, Deena refused to show up. But Elliot was happy to talk with us about her memories of that day, which included speaking at length with police. And she said that along with seeing Deena at the scene, Deena's dad was there, too. Now, we're also holding back his name, so we're going to call him Jack. Elia spotted Jack standing across the street from the office, watching the building burning. Elia said that she had walked over to check on him. I mean, his business was now standing in ruins. And he had also been in poor health. Elia said he seemed really confused when she approached him. And he kept talking about Binky, his nickname for Blanca. And he told Elias, quote, he could not understand why she did not get out of the fire. End quote. The police spoke to Jack themselves when he was with Deena at the scene. And as they answered police's questions, the officers began to get a sense of Blanca's movements that day, as well as some potentially suspicious characters in the area. In that conversation with police, the only extended interview they ever had with Jack, he told them that he had been the owner of New Way for about three decades. He said that while Blanca had technically worked for him for about five or six years, she hadn't been doing much business lately because of the bad housing market. I mean, they were just two years out from the 2008 financial crisis, mind you. Jack said that he'd been with Blanca earlier that same day. He'd seen her when he stopped by the office at around 11am that morning to meet another colleague that he was going to go look at properties with. After they wrapped up, Jack had the colleague drop him off at a Macayo's restaurant at around 12:30pm where he met Blanca for lunch. Just the two of them. We don't know the purpose of this lunch or what they discussed. Trust me, we asked. But police don't have a record of anyone on the department asking about this, nor is there a record of them confirming that the two actually went there to eat. But Jack says that after lunch, Blanca drove them both back to Newway. When they arrived, Jack caught sight of a guy that he knew sitting on a brick planter outside the building. And this guy, Steve, had worked around the New Way office in the past, kind of doing odd jobs. And in what appeared to be a gesture of goodwill, Jack says He paid Steve 20 bucks to help Blanca fix her computer. So Blanca, Steve and Jack all entered the office together. Jack says they spent about 10 to 15 minutes in the office, just the three of them, while Steve helped out. And then Jack said that he and Steve left, leaving Blanca alone because he thought that maybe she was gonna stay and use the office computer. Jack saw Steve head towards a truck in the parking lot, and Jack says that he drove off in his motorhome. That was around 3pm, less than two hours before firefighters arrived. Like I said, this was really the only substantial conversation that police ever had with Jack. The only other communication they had was a brief follow up with him a few weeks later. And that seemed significant to our reporter, Taylor Hartz, when she spoke to Detective Nunley.

[Jose Acevedo]

When he was spoken to, did he have an alibi from the time that he last saw Blanca to the time that he arrived back at the scene?

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

So he left the real estate business, leaving Blanca there, that he went home, he'd taken a nap, and then he learned about this, and so he was home when this occurred.

[Jose Acevedo]

So no way to really verify that?

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

Nothing. Nothing that was verified as far as where he was.

[Ashley Flowers]

It's especially interesting when you consider that another person who responded to the scene undermined Jack's timeline, and that was Blanca's brother, Jose Acevedo. He showed up at the fire, too. And when police spoke with him, he said that earlier that day he had talked to a guy across the street, someone who worked at a different business in the area. And that man told him that Jack was at the realty office all day. He said he saw Jack walking around and standing in front of a door to the office just 30 minutes before the fire. But when police tried to follow this thread, they were never able to identify and interview the man that Jose mentioned. And add to this the neighbor, the one who called Dina to tell her about the fire in the first place. He was in and out all day, and he said he actually can confirm Jack's timeline. Said Jack got there around 10 or 11 and he was gone by three. However, all the in between isn't so clear. And unfortunately, police never spoke to the associate who Jack said he visited a few properties with. So they weren't able to confirm the timeline through him or even make sure that the visit happened at all. And speaking of stories we can't confirm, Jack's story regarding Steve was never confirmed. Upon further investigation, Steve's full name was determined to be Steve Buckeye. And when the police tracked him down, Steve said that the last time he'd been at the New Way office was a whole two months prior to the murder. When confronted with the inconsistency, Jack later told police that maybe the man he thought was Steve was actually another guy. Maybe Robert. Not to be confused with Robert Williams, who called 911. Apparently, this Robert guy and Steve had both done odd jobs around the office in the past. So maybe Jack had just confused the two men. But unfortunately, maybe conveniently for Jack, they were never able to find this Robert. As for Dina, Jack's daughter, she hadn't spent any of that Sunday with Blanca, but she did have, let's just say, a lot of tidbits to share with police. It's hard to know what to make of them all, but Deena puts stock in these pieces of information, though they don't necessarily paint a cohesive picture. According to the report, Dina didn't know of anyone who wanted to hurt Blanca. But Deena made a point to tell the officers that there were a lot of people coming and going around two halfway houses across the street from the office building. Plus, there was an AA chapter that sometimes met in the New Way office. Dina implied that there were people connected to those organizations or dwellings that would be worth talking to. She also said that she'd seen an unfamiliar man sitting outside of the office in the week leading up to Blanca's murder. Dina described him as a guy with medium build, tattoos on his arms. And Dina said that he told her he'd just been released from prison and asked her for a piece of fruit. One of the New Way agents claimed to have also seen a similar looking man near the office during that week, but there's no evidence in the report that this man was ever identified, located, or interviewed. Now, a few days after the murder, when Deena was walking through the crime scene with police, she pointed out various items that she implied were odd. For example, she pointed out a potted plant in a vase that she didn't recognize. The vase was black, covered in illustrations of eyes and noses. Deena thought the vase had appeared around the time the mysterious man had been outside of the office asking her for fruit. And along with the vase, Deena told police that she found a cross in the office that appeared to be homemade. I mean, it was a large cross, so big that the fire investigator mistook it for a piece of furniture during the cleanup. Dina said she had never seen this thing before, and she emphasized that New Way agents were not allowed religious items in the office. She insisted that the cross was not in the office before Blanca's murder, and police records don't show that any of the New Way employees brought it up. Now, police gathered a couple of other strange testimonies from witnesses at the scene, including one regarding a seemingly random phone call received by a New Way agent. According to the realtor, she received a phone call at around 1.30pm the day of Blanca's murder while Blanca was out to lunch with Jack. The agent said that the caller identified himself as James, and he told her that the door to the office building was, quote, wide open. But no one was there. Now, it's not clear from the police report where this woman was when she received the call. Like, was she at work? Where? Clearly that wouldn't be true, or on a personal line somewhere else? I don't know. But she did tell police that she didn't recognize James voice or his number. According to the report, she didn't appear to ask him for more information during that phone call either. So why she got that call from someone she didn't know about? Such a specific detail seems odd, but when police attempted to follow up with this agent after the fire, she never responded, and so James was never identified. Then there was the report of a strange conversation between two other realtors on the day of Blanca's murder. A New Way agent named Brenda called many of her colleagues to let them know the news about the murder. But there was one reaction that she couldn't shake. When Brenda called fellow agent Casey, she responded with a troubling recollection involving another former New Way agent. Casey said that this guy Wade had lunch with Jack one day, and Wade told her that during their lunch, Jack was acting strangely. Jack repeatedly said that he needed to, quote, unquote, change something because he was in financial trouble. Then Wade allegedly said to Casey, supposedly through laughter, quote, that old bastard finally did it. He got Blanca to set a fire, and she must not have made it out on time. End quote. Now, we tried reaching out to both Casey and Wade for comment, but they never responded to our requests. Whether there is any credence to Wade's remarks remains unknown, but it is worth noting that we know that's not how Blanca died. It wasn't the smoke that killed her by not getting out in time. It was the wound to her head. That, by the way, at this point in the investigation, they had determined could not have been self inflicted. And there was no weapon found at the scene. No one in Blanca's personal life believed that she would harm herself either. And as a devout Christian, it would also go against some of her deepest beliefs. Her two sons were so devastated by her loss that they declined to talk to us for this story. But we were able to talk to Blanca's unofficial foster son, Jeff Davis.

[Jeff Davis]

Blanca was one of my best friend's mother. She was a single mom raising two boys. She was mom to all of us.

[Ashley Flowers]

Jeff lived with Blanca and her sons as a teen. I mean, she took him in when his life became chaotic and essentially raised him alongside her own two sons. He emphasized what a big part religion played in Blanca's life.

[Jeff Davis]

Blanca just she loved life. She loved the Lord. That was first before anything even, I would say, even before her children. I know that sounds weird, but she put the Lord first and she put her faith in the Lord.

[Ashley Flowers]

Neither Jeff nor either of Blanca's sons were at the scene. They were only notified later that day. And when they were, it came as a huge shock. I mean, so much so that police weren't even able to spend much time with her oldest son, Alejandro, who was just in town visiting his mom. He was so distraught that they weren't able to glean much from him, just that he had spoken with Blanca at around noon that same day on the phone. But as police were with Alejandro at Blanca's home, Blanca's boyfriend Felipe stopped by. And before we go any further, Felipe is a pseudonym that we're using throughout this episode at the request of police. So Felipe arrived at Blanca's house not long after Alejandro received the awful news. But what happened next, or rather what didn't happen, was arguably strange.

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[Brit Prawat]

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[Ashley Flowers]

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[Brit Prawat]

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[Ashley Flowers]

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[Ashley Flowers]

In the report, the officer notes that Felipe stopped by and that he was identified as Blanca's boyfriend, but that's it. He wasn't talked to then, and in the initial days and weeks after Blanca's murder, Felipe wasn't questioned any further, not even after police learned about some troubling allegations. According to Blanca's family, she and Felipe were reportedly having issues because of his alleged womanizing and drinking. Blanca's brother Jose also reported to police that Blanca had been threatened by Felipe's ex wife. Jose didn't share when exactly those threats took place or what exactly was said, but he mentioned it on multiple occasions to police. He also alleged that Felipe's daughter had threatened Blanca too. She supposedly had ties to a gang as well, but it doesn't seem like the investigators tried to find out more through Felipe or ever tracked the women down independently. Our reporter Taylor pressed the current investigator on this oversight.

[Jose Acevedo]

They don't re interview him formally as part of their initial investigation?

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

No, no they didn't. They interviewed family and co workers, but they didn't follow up and do another interview with Felipe.

[Jose Acevedo]

Is that unusual?

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

In my opinion, I think so. I think he definitely should have been interviewed again.

[Ashley Flowers]

As the day of Blanca's murder came to a close, the police gathered what they could from the New Way office. Given the destruction caused by the fire, it was challenging to preserve evidence that might be linked to Blanca's murder. The police report shows that matches a matchbook and traces of gasoline were found at the scene along with personal items like eyeglasses, makeup, brush handles, keys and a cell phone. All these items were found burned or partially melted. Perhaps most poignantly, Blanca's white high heels were also gathered, though she'd been fully clothed in a tan dress when they found her, she hadn't been wearing shoes. So the police concluded that Blanca must have taken them off herself under her desk before she was murdered. Specifically before she was shot. Or at least that's the assumption they'd been operating under this whole time because of the wound to her head. But two days into the investigation, they learned that they'd been wrong. It turned out that Blanca hadn't died from a gunshot wound, and she hadn't died from the fire either. When Blanca's autopsy was completed, the results showed that all of Blanca's injuries were the result of blunt force trauma. It also concluded that she had been strangled and stabbed in the neck with a sharp object.

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

So Blanca sustained approximately 25 separate blunt force trauma wounds to her head.

[Jose Acevedo]

And, I mean, that's a lot from your perspective as a homicide investigator for years. Like, does that seem like a lot to you?

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

Yeah, it seems excessive.

[Jose Acevedo]

And what does that indicate?

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

I mean, we could speculate that there's some hatred, some, like, personal crime of passion. A lot of those case studies would indicate that this is probably somebody that was very upset with her for some reason.

[Ashley Flowers]

It was hard for both Blanca's family and investigators to imagine what that reason might be. But just as the news of Blanca's real cause of death sank in, her oldest son, Alejandro, called the police to say that he had found something unsettling. Four days after his mother's murder, he had come across a letter on his mom's nightstand. Naturally, he assumed that Blanca had written it before she died. Alejandra handed over the two page letter to police. Now, it wasn't addressed to anyone, but it described a lot of grievances against one person in particular who is named in the letter. And though it's not dated or signed by the author, Alejandro does believe that Blanca wrote it. And he believes that she wrote it to her boss, Jack, shortly before she died. Here is a voice actor reading the full letter.

[I]

I have been wanting to talk to you, but you're always busy. I'm always busy, too. I can't believe how time flies. It's been for three years already. You seem to go on forever doing the same thing forever without stopping to think and wonder and do things differently. You seem not to care about anything but working and making money. Like, if the world is going to go on forever and it's not. All this time I've been trying to tell you, you just don't want to understand it. You know me and know how I feel, but it's just impossible for me to accept that you don't care about anything or me or anybody else. You know that I struggle so much with the business and at home. You know that my son got sick because I was always working and left him alone. If you had care about me and my son, you could have been the one to tell me to either quit the business or pay me more so that I could pay all my bills. Instead, you kept telling me that you were going to put deals together for me. You know how hard I tried and you even went with me and we wouldn't get anything. I also asked you to do different split with me. And you think that it's because you're so equal that you couldn't do it for me because you couldn't do it for everybody. Well, I thought, I mean, at least a bit more than everybody else. Than those two people that wanted me to come to work for them. You convinced me that they were just lying. That all they wanted was to get in my pants. You were wrong. One of them is my friend that just wanted somebody to help him with his deals. He's 67 years old and he didn't want to work so hard anymore. Well, I never changed companies and his broker didn't want me to work with them. She said that there was something that was holding me with Niue. He was upset. He told me, I don't understand that I still had two more deals that a loan officer gave me and one was his own purchase and still stayed with you. You also know the reason you kept telling me that we were going to talk about our relationship later. You led me on and on. You kept telling me in a few months, then for your birthday, etc. Actually, that's why doesn't like me anymore. Because he was friendly and willing to help me with any questions. You remember him saying that. But he got very angry to see that you were giving me the cold shoulder and leading me on. So did. And that I kept believing you and calling you. They also knew that you were telling me differently when I saw you. Now I just can't believe that you don't care even when I'm telling you I'm still struggling. How can you do that to me, Jack? To someone who really cares about you, your business, etc. How can you be so unfair to me? You just wanted me to keep working to pay for your overhead, meaning your salary and your managers. If you had been truthful, I would have left sooner. If it didn't work out, I could have came back. But at least I could have tried and make A bit more money. Now I have a car payment, bills and my student loans. I just can't not even ask you to give me money. I know you wouldn't. But you know that you lied to me when you were leading me on for a whole year. The first year. I have to accept I just plainly believed in you. I thought you would take care of me. And even more I thought you loved me. It was all a lie. Now I feel as if you just used me. And it's an awful feeling. Remember that one time that we were watching the program and a guy had been in jail for a crime he didn't commit? You said that if you win the lottery you would give him some money. But Jack, you don't have to win the lottery to help someone. It actually will be more meaningful with your money. But how could you do that if instead of giving, you took from me. If you had told me two years ago what you told me when I left. You know that I would have left and tried to make a bit more. Wouldn't it have been better for me to pay you 12,000 and 40,000? Imagine all the things I could do with that money. And for you. What's 40,000, Jack? For all the money you have even just invested. Does it really mean everything? Or you're just like the rich people? You even said the people with 1 million want 2, people with 2 want 3, etc. You said it yourself, greed never has enough. It's okay if you just work and work for it, but to actually lie and lie for it? Is it stealing from a single mom and a child? What's the difference if you take it or keep lying to take it? I know I'm telling you harshly what I told you before. You just don't want to accept it. Does it matter to know that you're just leaving your family more money after knowing how you kept leading me on? I remember the letter wrote to Mike Cardwell. I wonder how would feel if you knew the truth about you leading me on. Just to keep me working for you, giving 50% of the little money I was making. I told you and you knew that I only had deals from people from church, etc. I wasn't doing floor time anymore. I guess I was just desperate to make it and to have enough to pay all my bills. And now I need insurance. Now I have medical problems. Not only for my son, but for myself as well. You still don't care. You still blinded with the shine of gold. You just don't want to accept even Just with me that you lied and lied. How can you just lied so much and not feel any kind of remorse? You once told us the story of the guy that called you a coward. I thought you were not a coward. You were just broke. I felt bad for you, like for the whole world. But to actually lie to me and lie about lying, isn't that a worse kind of coward? Can you at least not lie about lying? I want to see that. I'll do anything to see you just say the truth. And then when your son was sick and you were so broke, you just felt so angry. And that anger only made you become so obsessed with making money. How can you forget what it felt like to be so desperate and so broke? And with me, you see me so desperate and disappointed and still feel nothing. That's why I don't date. Because 99.9% of the guys are such jerks that most of them don't care about their own children. How can they care about someone else's? You are in the position to help, like I told you. If you don't and just not care about helping anybody, can you at least not take from someone who cares about you? How much must you love money to say, I like you, you work for me, give me 50% of everything you make. You say that joking that you would take from your wife and not give her. But it's really horrible to hear you say that, because it's really the truth. You would be the worst boyfriend ever. Not even the jerks take so much from their dates. Even if they don't give anything, at least they don't take. Well, some of them do. Here. I'm pleading with you one last time. All I have to tell you is you will reap what you sow. One day you will remember me and my words. Since you don't want to hear or know God's word, We will pay for what we do here on earth and most likely with our children or their children just came to my mind. The verse that says that God makes miracles to generations, to the people that love him and visits, their rebellion of those to the fourth generation.

[Ashley Flowers]

It's hard to hear that and not wonder why Police never had any additional conversations with Jack. Especially because the exact nature of Blanca's relationship with Jack isn't totally clear. Blanca's brother Jose told Police that Jack had allegedly tried to get Blanca to spend time alone with him, even though she never displayed any interest in doing so. Jose said that Jack would ask Blanca to tell him about the Bible to spend time with her and that she was afraid of him because she believed that he could talk to God and the devil. That said, the letter raises the possibility that they did have a relationship she valued and that at least at one time, there was mutual respect. Even with all the questions raised by that letter, that was it. The contents were never investigated further. Blanca's financials were never pulled, and there wasn't even a handwriting analysis done to confirm if that letter was definitively written by her. That was the biggest investigative lead detectives had for a very long time. The other evidence didn't go anywhere. Testing on portions of Blanca's clothing and fingernail clippings and bloodstains didn't turn up a DNA profile of a suspect. There was no evidence found indicating that Blanca had been sexually assaulted. And Blanca didn't have any defensive wounds. Which isn't surprising when you take into consideration the fact that she had wounds to the back of her head and her shoes were off. I mean, to me, that indicates that she was probably taken by surprise. Meaning maybe as she sat at her desk, maybe by someone she felt comfortable with or by someone she didn't know was in the office. At the time of the initial investigation, police briefly considered Jack a person of interest, but nothing came of it. Letter aside, they said no motive was ever established for him. In fact, the police thought Jack may have even lost money after the fire because there didn't appear to be an active insurance policy on the office building at the time. So as quickly as flames swept up the new way office building, Blanca's case was cold and went on a shelf to begin collecting dust. All the way up until 2016, when a new team was assigned her case. That's when Phoenix PD decided to track down a source that the original team never spoke to. Blanca's boyfriend, Felipe.

[Brit Prawat]

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[Ashley Flowers]

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[Ashley Flowers]

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[Ashley Flowers]

Deck In October 2016, two new detectives assigned to Blanca's case went to meet Felipe at a Phoenix IHOP. Felipe started by telling detectives that he and Blanca had been in a relationship for about four years before she was murdered. They'd met after she tried to sell a house to one of his family members. It was complicated, though, because the relationship began when Felipe was still married to his ex wife, who we're going to call Michelle. At police's request, Felipe said that he, quote, did not believe his ex wife was involved in Blanca's death, end quote. He said he had heard them arguing on the phone a few times, but that was the extent of the tension. Though I know that wasn't exactly true. A little digging shows that just over a year before she was murdered, Blanca actually filed a police report, and in it she described Michelle threatening her over the phone. According to the report, Michelle called Blanca twice in an evening and told her she was going to, quote, get even and would pay to have it done. She allegedly told Blanca that she would live to regret stealing. Felipe, our reporter, talked to Detective Nunley about this too.

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

So in 2009, she made a police.

[Detective Mark Nunley]

Report.

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

About these threatening phone calls. The information that was received wasn't enough for the detectives to to follow up on it. There's no follow up supplement or anything from the 2009 report, but it was documented, I think, just so that there was a paper trail in case there was any additional threats or anything else that could show a pattern which maybe would help for any future investigations.

[Jose Acevedo]

When investigators find that report from 2009, like, do they go and speak to this woman?

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

No. No, they didn't. At least nothing that's been documented. But no.

[Jose Acevedo]

If you were doing this investigation today, would you have gone to speak to her?

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

Yes.

[Ashley Flowers]

There's a few things to note here. First, it's not clear if the original investigative team found that 2009 report. I'd wager to say it's unlikely since it's not noted in the case file, but we don't know for sure. Detective Nunneley did dig it up when he was assigned the case. And second, when Detective Nunneley says that he'd do things differently today, he really means it. But more on that in a moment from police records of that 2016 conversation with Felipe. He doesn't say if he knew about those threatening telephone calls that Michelle allegedly made to Blanca, but he did say that he didn't believe Michelle would have hurt her. Felipe also maintained that his relationship with Blanca was good. Sure, they had their arguments, but that was it. He says. He explained that before Blanca died, they were living apart. After he decided to move out of her house, his commute to work was too far from Blanca's residence, and Blanca was dealing with major financial problems. He said she was supposedly in debt and putting a lot of money into a property in Mexico. But Felipe made it clear to the detectives that he and Blanca were still still in a relationship before she died. He'd even recently suggested that they get married. Coming out of that interview, there was one important thing I took note of. Felipe did not have a verifiable alibi for the time of Blanca's murder. A few weeks after Felipe's 2016 interview, police dug up another name that came up in passing in the initial report. Paula Campos. Paula was a church friend of Blanca's and had known her for about 28 to 10 years before she died. Paula said that she'd actually spoken with Blanca the same day she was murdered. When the two of them were at church together that morning, Blanca told Paula that she was planning on working that day after the church service. But what Paula told detectives about the day after Blanca's murder seemed much more significant. On Monday, June 28, 2010, Paula saw Jack at Blanca's house. You see, Paula had Gone there to visit her family after hearing what had happened to her friend, and she answered the door when Jack knocked. Paula told police that Jack asked if she could tell him what had happened to Blanca. And Paula remembered that he was with a younger woman who she didn't recognize. While she explained to Jack that she simply didn't know what had happened to Blanca, Paula noticed something on his arm. Two scratch marks. When she asked Jack how he got those, he said they came from a cat. Now, in one section of the report, Paula agrees that the marks look cat like. But in another section, they're described as, quote, fresh scratches, like nail scratches. End quote. After their brief interaction, Jack passed Paula his business card and told her to give it to Blanca's son, Alejandro. He wanted Alejandro to call him, but he didn't give an exact reason why. And we still don't know if Alejandro ever did call Jack because he didn't want to be interviewed. After that, Paula never saw Jack again. Despite the arguably odd nature of the interaction, police didn't deem it significant enough to follow up on further, and they never circled back around to Jack in their review, the only classified person of interest and one of the last people to see Blanca. And the reason they didn't circle back in their 2016 review is because Jack died in 2016, right before they began re interviewing people. Most recently, investigators have taken steps to look into Felipe's ex wife, Michelle, the woman who Blanca reported threatened her. Detective Nunley has been in touch with her quite recently. On May 29, 2025, police picked Michelle up on a court court order to get a DNA sample and to be interviewed. Detective Nunley said that she denied any involvement in Blanca's murder and said that she had no knowledge of who killed her. Nunley said that they also gave Michelle a polygraph, and she failed when questioned about her involvement in the crime. Although during a second interview, Michelle was insistent that she had nothing to do with the murder or the arson, she provided an alibi along with other information, which Detective Nunneley is now looking into to see if he can corroborate. As of this recording, Michelle has not been arrested or charged with any crimes related to Blanca's murder or the arson of the office. Neither has her daughter or Felipe. No one has. It's exciting to see movement in this case after so long, but there is no guarantee that police have enough information to close this case. And Blanca's family, especially her two sons, deserve to have answers for what happened to her. When our reporter Laura interviewed Jeff, the man who blanca raised as a teenager. He described blanca as a woman who was full of love for her family. Jeff offered us insight into the warmer parts of blanca's life, where she shone as a mother, Loved her kids and loved her God.

[Jeff Davis]

She loved the lord. She went to church all the time. She led her children in the right direction and did everything she could for them. She put me to work doing chores around the house. You know, I can remember I'd go to get in the shower, and she would stop me and hand me a sponge and some cleaning stuff and be like, while you're in there, you better clean the shower.

[Ashley Flowers]

But perhaps best of all, Jeff shared some of the little quirks that made blanca charming, funny, and totally human.

[Jeff Davis]

So the last time all of us worked together was at my wedding. And I remember at the end of the wedding, she stayed. She was kind of helping clean up and do things, and she was taking. Everybody was kind of dispersing, but she was gathering all the centerpieces and taking them home with her. And my wife's like, why is she taking all the centerpieces? She's taking all of them. And I walked over, I'm like, blanca, what are you doing? Why are you taking all the centerpieces? And she's like, well, that's what you're supposed to do at a wedding. No one took there, so I'm taking them all. They're going to be all over the house. And I just. I thought that was kind of neat, you know, that she. She wanted all of them because she was just going to put them all over her house. And, you know, she's like, I got to remember this.

[Ashley Flowers]

Today, Detective nunley told us that they need people to come forward with new information to advance blind case. Her death was the result of a brutal attack by someone who was determined to inflict serious harm on her. And that fact stays with him, and it stays with blanca's two sons, Both of whom have struggled to live with the knowledge that their mother died in such a horrific way.

[Detective Kenneth Porter]

She's at work on a Sunday afternoon, Trying to get her finances in order. She's got a lot of stuff going on. Just a real tragic victim of this situation where she was brutally murdered. And I think anybody with a conscience, you know, just look inside, and if, you know, if you have information, come forward and help us bring justice to her and her family.

[Ashley Flowers]

So if you know something about the murder of Blanca acevedo, now is the time to act. Detective nunley told us that anyone who has first, second, or even third hand information or tips should reach out if you're scared of retaliation. He requests that you call 480WITNESS to leave an anonymous tip. He asks that you leave as much information as possible to help solve Blanca's murder. The Deck is an Audio Chuck production with theme music by Ryan Lewis. To learn more about the Deck and our advocacy work, visit thedeckpodcast.com so what do you think, Chuck? Do you approve?

[Brit Prawat]

When we think of national parks, we picture peaceful hikes, scenic overlooks, and quiet moments. But Park Predators reminds us that even in the most beautiful places, dark secrets might be lurking. This podcast explores true stories of crimes that took place in the outdoors, places meant to bring people together with nature, but where things went tragically wrong. If you're drawn to the storytelling here on the Deck, you'll want to check out Park Predators. Listen to Park Predators anywhere you get your podcasts.